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Self-Saucing Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce

Self-Saucing Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce

I bought pears a few weeks ago thinking my girls would eat them, but they were hard, and stayed hard, till they started looking beyond their best, so I decided to make a baked pudding with them. I have been trying to use my Varoma more, so thought a steamed pudding would be nice too, specially since this ‘summer’ is hiding behind thick rain clouds today.

Self-Saucing Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce 2

I have no idea how you would steam a pudding on the stove top, but if you do, I’m sure this will be easy to make even without a Thermomix.Self-Saucing Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce

I also think the flavours in this can easily be adapted – adding cloves, raisins, cardamom as you like. And I like to serve this with home made clotted cream or ice cream.

Steamed Pear Pudding With Orange Butter Sauce
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: Steamed
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 puddings
Serve with home made [url href=”https://www.keeperofthekitchen.com/2015/08/19/diy-clotted-cream-in-the-slowcooker-or-crockpot/” title=”DIY Clotted Cream In The Slowcooker Or Crockpot”]clotted cream[/url] or ice cream, or just on it’s own
Ingredients
  • For the fruit
  • 2 pears, cored and chopped in rough cubes
  • 25g butter
  • 20g sugar
  • teaspoon cinnamon or all-spice
  • juice of one orange
  • For the pudding
  • 125g butter
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 130g self-raising flour
  • zest from 1 orange
Instructions
  1. Chop pears into cubes and place in the Thermomix bowl.
  2. Add butter, sugar and spices and orange juice and cook 5 mins/ Varoma Temp/Speed 1
  3. Spoon into rammekins or heat-proof dishes
  4. In the Thermomix, whisk the butter and sugar together for 50 seconds/speed 4
  5. Add the eggs, self raising flour and zest and beat together for 30 seconds/speed 4
  6. Spoon into rammekins, above the fruit
  7. Place the rammekins into bottom ‘shelf’ of the Varoma and put the lid on
  8. Add water up to the 1l mark in the bowl, place the Varoma on top and steam for 25 mins/Varoma Temp/Speed 3
  9. Turn upside down onto a serving dish and serve with clotted cream or icecream

 

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Easy French Chocolate Mousse – Kids In The Kitchen

Easy French Chocolate Mousse

We’re still learning about France this week, and another recipe from the France: Food and Celebrations* book that we’ve been using that we just had to try is the Chocolate Mousse. According to the Frenchling in this book, this dessert is only for special ocassions, but a great thing about it is that it’s really simple to make.

I think if you have two Thermomix bowls this is the simplest recipe in the world. I just have the one and it’s still dead simple, just requires a bit of a wash inbetween.Easy French Chocolate Mousse

Of course I am trying to teach the kids to cook without the Thermomix too, so there’s a bit of ‘elbow grease’ required in three sets of whisking, but that’s good for them too. They used the Annabel Karmel Casdon Baking Set which has a fabulous bowl and whisk, perfectly child sized and very effective in whisking.

I had each girl responsible for her own whisking ingredients while I did the chocolate, but managing kids whisking liquids doesn’t leave much time for photo taking!Easy French Chocolate Mousse

The original recipe calls for three hours in the fridge, but I’m not convinced by that. After an hour the mouse was almost more of a pudding, whereas initially upon finishing it, I couldn’t resist tucking in a little had to perform a taste test and it was very light and airy.

You can add flavoured chocolate to this to make a flavoured mousse – mint, orange, strawberry, whatever you  like. I used dark chocolate in this recipe.

Easy French Chocolate Mousse – Kids In The Kitchen
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 3
Serve with home made clotted cream, strawberries & mint leaves!
Ingredients
  • 150g chocolate
  • 2 large eggs, seperated
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 125g (125ml) whipping cream or double cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • fruit and cream to serve
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, on a double boiler, in a bowl nestled inside a pot on the stove top (making sure not to get any water in) or however you normally melt chocolate.
  2. While it’s melting, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding the sugar slowly as you whisk, then put the egg whites in the fridge.
  3. Next, whisk the cream to stiff peaks, and place in the fridge.
  4. Finally, in a large bowl add the vanilla extract to the egg yolks and mix until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate slowly in to the egg yolks, stirring all the time.
  5. Next, add the cream to the egg and chocolate mix, and stir till it’s all combined.
  6. Finally fold in the egg whites. Do not beat, whisk or over stir this as doing so will cause the mousse to collapse.
  7. Once combined, dish into serving dishes and place in the fridge for 1 – 3 hours to set.
  8. Top with strawberries, mint leaves and cream for a luxurious finish.
Thermomix Instructions
  1. These instructions are for one bowl. If you have two, melt the chocolate in one and do the whisking in the other.
  2. Place the egg whites and sugar in the Thermomix bowl and whisk with the butterfly speed 4 about 1 minute. Keep an eye on it – the freshness of your eggs and the temperature will affect how long you need to whisk this for, and you don’t want it to collapse again, so just stop when you reach stiff peaks.
  3. Scoop into a bowl and set aside in the fridge
  4. Wash out the bowl and dry thoroughly.
  5. Pour the cream in and add the butterfly again. Whisk the cream for about 30 seconds/speed 4. Again, keep an eye on it – freshness of cream and starting temperature of cream will affect how long it needs to be whisked for. You don’t want butter!
  6. Set aside the cream, and wash and dry the bowl.
  7. Add the chocolate to the Thermomix bowl and chop speed 5, 10 seconds.
  8. Heat to 50C/Speed 2/ 3 minutes. Meanwhile in a large bowl, mix the egg yolk and vanilla extract and stir to combine. When the chocolate is melted pour in a thin stream whisking together. (Don’t pour the egg into the hot chocolate or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs.)
  9. Add the cream to the bowl, whisking to combine.
  10. Finally, add the egg whites and gently fold them in. If you whisk or stir too vigorously you’ll knock all the air out of the egg whites and your mousse will fall flat.
  11. Once combined, move to your serving dishes and refrigerate for 1 – 3 hours.
  12. Top with strawberries, mint leaves and cream for a luxurious finish.

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Nutella Banana Muffin Recipe

Nutella Banana Cupcakes

It’s nutella and banana. Do you need any more convincing? I have a banana bread recipe that I love and use often, but sometime a little something different doesn’t hurt!

Nutella Banana Cupcakes

I would recommend using deeper muffin pans than the ones I used for these, as being able to cover the nutella completely is a bit more ideal, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t.

Leaving the chocolate exposed will give it a crunch top layer, covering it will give you more oozy, yummy chocolatey goodness.

Nutella Banana MuffinsNow, I’m saying use Nutella here, because it’s a name most people recognise, but you can of course substitute for other chocolate spread, including a home made one. 

These are really delicious, moist and tasty. I hope you enjoy them too!

Nutella Banana Muffin
Recipe Type: Treats, Snacks, Deserts
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
Adjust the Nutella, or home made Nutella, for more or less chocolatey centres.
Ingredients
  • 180g self raising flour
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 100g sugar
  • 80g oil (not olive)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 bananas
  • 100g milk
  • 120g Nutella
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180C
  2. Prepare your muffin pans
  3. Add all the ingredients except Nutella and mix at speed 5 for 10 – 15 seconds to make sure it’s all blended.
  4. Spoon into muffin cases, and drop a little less than a full tablespoon of Nutella into each muffin case.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes to 45 mins, sticking a skewer in every 10 minutes after 20 minutes till it comes out clean.The size of your muffin tray is going to determine how long these takes, hence the variable time.
  6. Remove from muffin trays onto a wire rack, and leave to cool.

 

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Pastel De Nata – Portuguese Custard Tarts Recipe

Our family had some pretty amazing travel plans for this year, and if things hadn’t gone as  they did, we’d be setting off from Sintra near Lisbon in Portugal roundabout now, for Spain. One of the things I remember from a previous visit to Portugal is Pastel de Nata – Custard Tarts – which are delicious sweet baked custard tarts in a puff pastry shell.Pastel de nata - Portuguese Custard Tarts If you’re a fan of the Nando’s restaurant chain, you may recognise these as one of the only desert options on the menu, but I’ve never been a fan of them! There’s nothing quite like fresh, home made tarts. It just wins out. No surprises there, I suppose.

Pastel de nata - Portuguese Custard Tarts

I’d like to be all holier-than-though, but I actually bought this puff pastry, because as Lorraine Pascale, James Martin and Jamie Oliver all say – there’s no reason not to! Especially if you buy the all butter pastry. It’s about £1 more than the ‘normal’ one, but it’s so much better, with a much nicer taste and no bitter aftertaste. It’s well worth paying that bit extra.

If you are going to make it, have a look at this easy puff pastry recipe from Jane at Why Is There Air?

Pastel de nata - Portuguese Custard Tarts

Sprinkle the icing sugar before you’re going to serve, as it will be absorbed and you won’t see it and if you keep adding sugar it becomes terribly sweet. My five year old was the icing sugar distributor in these photos and she was, shall we say, liberal in her application 😉

Portuguese Custard Tarts Recipe
Recipe Type: Desert
Cuisine: Portuguese, European
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12 pies
The cooking time here does not include the cooling time once the custard is cooked before it is baked. Add at least another 30 – 50 minutes depending on your temperature. If you cover the custard with plastic while it’s cooling it shouldn’t form a skin, but if it does just mix it up – you won’t notice it in the final product.
Ingredients
  • 115g White Sugar
  • 1 Egg
  • 2 Egg Yolks
  • 10g Cornflour
  • 400g Full Fat Milk
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 300g All Butter Puff Pastry
Instructions
Thermomix Recipe
  1. Weigh out the milk and set aside.
  2. Place the white sugar into the Thermomix Bowl and mix at Speed 5 / 10 Seconds
  3. Add one egg and two yolks to the bowl. (don’t bang against the Thermomix bowl as that tends to upset the scales)
  4. Add 10g cornflour and mix it all together, Speed 5 / 2 Seconds
  5. Set the Thermomix to 90C/Speed 5/ 7 minutes and start it running
  6. Add the milk slowly in a steady stream – it should take about 30 seconds to add.
  7. When it’s finished, add the vanilla extract and do a quick speed 5/ 1 second to mix it in.
  8. Remove the lid and leave to cool.
  9. If you’re making the pastry, now’s a good time to do that. Role out the pastry and use a cutter to cut 12 circles big enough to cover your muffin pans.
  10. Spray the pans, add the pastry and press down to make the ‘cases’.
  11. Once the custard is cooled all the way down, heat the oven to about 180C
  12. Add a tablespoon or two of the custard to each muffin case – don’t fill it all the way to the top.
  13. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes. The custard will puff up and look pillowy and like it’s going to overflow but when you take it out of the oven it’ll collapse down again.
  14. Bake until the tops are brown – I don’t like them blackened, but I’ll leave it to your personal preferences on that.
  15. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool down thoroughly. They can be eaten warm, but are just as delicious cold.
  16. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

 

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Ramson (Wild Garlic) Omelette Recipe

Here’s a simple little recipe to try with your Ramsons and a few bits and pieces from the fridge. It’s a great starting place if you’re not used to cooking with foraged food. Ramsons are a great source of Vitamin C and iron, and their pungent garlic smell makes them really easy to identify in the wild. They’re ideal for teaching children about foraging, and are very versatile in savoury food. You can also use them in sandwiches and salads – anything you would use salad, basil or other greens for.

Ramson-Omelette

 

Ramson (Wild Garlic) Omelette
Recipe Type: Simple, Foraged
Cuisine: Breakfast, Dinner
Author: Luschka
For this Omelette you’ll need as much of each ingredient as you think each person would eat:
Ingredients
  • Mushrooms
  • Onion
  • Ramsons
  • Eggs, 2 per person
  • Salt and Pepper to season
  • Cheese to taste
  • Tomato and any other vegetables (optional)
  • Chop the mushrooms and onion roughly and fry until tender.
Instructions
  1. Add the chopped Ramsons and cook for another minute or two, till they are wilted.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs till they are frothy. Lower the heat a little and pour directly into the pan. This will make the omelette light and fluffy.
  3. Add a little grated cheese and salt and pepper, and cover with a lid until the egg is cooked on top.
  4. Cut into as many pieces as you need and transfer carefully on to plates.
  5. Add a couple of Ramson flowers for decoration and enjoy with toast.

Reposted from Diary of a First Child